


Cap'n

by mandaree1



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Leadership Solidarity, This is silly for the most part, Two leaders complaining about their own inability to lead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 16:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14116101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: Garnet and Lars bond over leadership struggles.





	Cap'n

"Captain Lars."

Lars jumps, ashamed at being caught slipping away. He let out a weak laugh. "O-oh. Hey, Garnet. Whatcha need?"

Garnet calmly strides up to him, hands limp at her sides. Lars has to tilt his head back to meet her glasses. "You seem concerned."

"Just... getting myself together, is all." He laughs shakily, combing his fingers through his hair. "It takes a lot of effort to be that energetic, you know?"

"That's not your usual persona, then."

"Ha! I wish." He blew a raspberry. "I mean, it's still me. I just up the ante a little. Well. A  _lot_." Lars' eyes darted up, ashamed, but no one was around. This part of the Sun Incinerator was all his own- it's where he built the Star Skipper, and it's where he goes when he needs time by himself. "But if it helps, it helps, amiright?"

Her frown softened a little. Lars hadn't even noticed it was hard. She plucks her glasses off to examine him. "Things have been hard for you."

"That doesn't sound like a question."

"I don't ask. I  _suggest_."

Lars isn't sure what to make of that. "Well, your suggestion isn't wrong, I guess. But, really, my job isn't that bad. I'm mostly just the entertainment. Fluorite, Rhodonite, the twins, Padparadscha- they know how to work the ship, how to fly and fix it. And me?" He shrugs. "I'm better at building than I am at programming."

"You don't feel important to the process, then."

"I'm not." He set his hands on his hips. "Not really. I keep everyone's spirits up. I do all my own stunts.  _They're_  the ones who get hassled with all the technical mumbo-jumbo."

Garnet hums and nods. "S'not easy, being leader- especially when the job is handed to you, not earned. Everyone is good at different things. Sometimes, leading just isn't on the list."

"Are you trying to vaguely compliment me or insult me?" he asks, deadpan.

"Compliment," she rectifies, slipping her glasses back on. "Inheriting leadership may be the one thing you and I have in common."

"Oh. Um." Lars considers patting her arm, but figured it was a bad idea. "Ditto?"

"They rely on you. You're the glue that keeps them together."

"I know, right? And that's soooo stressful. I can't even let myself have a stupid teen boy moment anymore." Lars shakes his head, mostly at himself. "Okay, so that stupid teen boy moment happened at a really bad time, but they acted like they couldn't even move without me. Guys, you're  _eons_  old. I'm a  _kid._  You know better than I do by, like, the principle."

"Mmhmm," Garnet said. "It's weird. 'Specially when it's an old friend. I didn't fight a war with you just to order you around."

"Honestly, that sentence in and of itself is waaay more hardcore than I will ever be, but imagine a nerdier, less awesome version of that and it's  _me_."

She taps her chest plate. "Solidarity."

Lars nods, suddenly realizing just how silly this all must be. "Solidarity."

**Author's Note:**

> I have no clue what to make of this ending. I really don't. But I wanted to write Garnet and Lars commiserating, so here I am!
> 
> -Mandaree1


End file.
